1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus including a movably provided cover, in particular, an image forming apparatus including a movably provided cover, such as a copying machine, a laser beam printer, and a facsimile.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium with use of an electrophotographic image forming process have been known as an image forming apparatus. In many cases, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus employs a process cartridge method in which an integrated cartridge including an electrophotographic photosensitive member, a charging unit, and other members for forming electrophotographic images is provided to be attachable to and detachable from a body of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.
When an electrophotographic image forming apparatus employs the process cartridge method, a process cartridge and a body of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus exist as separate members. Thus, some electrophotographic image forming apparatuses include a storage medium provided to the process cartridge to enable more appropriate operation. This configuration necessitates providing the apparatus body with a mechanism for accessing the storage medium of the process cartridge (Japanese Patent No. 04272860).
However, the provision of the mechanism for accessing the storage medium of the process cartridge inside the body of the image forming apparatus as discussed in Japanese Patent No. 04272860 may lead to complication of the image forming apparatus and an increase in the number of parts.